Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State?

[kpete]

Source: Washington Post

By Al Kamen and Philip Rucker

There's increasing chatter in political circles that the Obama camp is not overly happy with the usual suspects for secretary of state these days and that the field might be expanding somewhat beyond Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and maybe former Democratic senator Sam Nunn of Georgia.

There's talk, indeed, that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) may now be under consideration for the post. Her office referred any questions to the Obama transition; Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor declined to comment.

The pick of the former presidential contender and Senate Armed Services Committee member would go a long way toward healing any remaining divisions within the Democratic Party after the divisive primaries. Also, Clinton has long been known for her work on international women's issues and human rights. The former first lady could also enhance Obama's efforts to restore U.S. standing amongst allies worldwide.

And Obama could put her in his speed-dial for a 3 a.m. phone call every morning.

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/11/13/hillary_clinton_secretary_of_s.html?hpid=topnews

[Idealism]

1. Best line : "And Obama could put her in his speed-dial for a 3 a.m. phone call every morning."

[fed_up_mother]

48. I'd love for her to be secretary of state!

I think she'd do a great job.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

2. I think she'd do a great job . n/t

[davidinalameda]

3. she won't play second fiddle to anyone

Bill Richardson should be named and named now!

[sandnsea]

4. I'll just bite my tongue n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

6. Oh you know you want to say it!

;)

I miss your Obama family photo. :(

[sandnsea]

74. New pics & video

Check it out. Lots of great rallies across the country.

[BootinUp]

5. I have a candidate in mind

Ret. General Wesley Clark...

[BOSSHOG]

20. Strongly seconded by this Joe Six Pack Veteran in a Red State

General Clark is the best person for the job.

[TheWraith]

26. Agreed. Nothing says "foreign policy" like "Supreme Commander, NATO Allied Forces Europe."

Not to mention having been involved in or possessing knowledge of every military conflict from Vietnam onward.

[onehandle]

7. As long as he's hiring lots of Clinton people, why not her? nt

[Just-plain-Kathy]

8. PLEEEZZZZZZZ...NO MORE CLINTONS!!!

We should drop them like hot potatoes. NAFTA, WALMART, the Telecommunications Act, The Iraqi Liberation Act, Rendition, being the "Past administration" who advised our reps to vote "yes" to the IWR... Anyone within the Bush Family inner circle should be squeezed out of our government.

We have to find up and coming democrat politicians who want to go up against dems who sat silent as the White House Mafia robbed us blind.

[VeraAgnes]

12. That would be political suicide for the Democratic Party.

many, such as myself adore, respect and desire the Clintons to be in leadership roles within the political area.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[VeraAgnes]

47. You are very confused,.......

get help soon.

[Beacool]

71. You have NO clue about the Clinton Foundation.

:eyes:

[Captain Hilts]

14. Does this mean we drop Obama for FISA? Talking to war monger Powell?

Just curious. No one in DC is pure.

[ClarkUSA]

44. Comparing apples to oranges.... is that the best you've got against Obama? LOL!

There is no way Hillary Clinton will be given a cabinet post.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AlCzervik]

10. i'll wait to hear it from Obama himself.

on all of the choices.

[HopeHoops]

11. Now what is that old saying - Oh yeah - "Time to open a can of WHOOP ASS!"

[Captain Hilts]

13. No. The only cabinet post suited to her is Attorney General, and that might help weed out...

a good third of the Patrick Henry U. alumni there who would run out of the building screaming with their hair on fire.

The rest, Hillary would have to week out.

[Sebastian Doyle]

33. Hillary as AG? Over my goddamn dead body!!

We MUST have an Attorney General who will ensure that the Bush Crime Family never comes to power in this country again. And obviously nobody named Clinton is going to be able to do that. Nor do I believe she would be willing to rip apart corporate criminal collusion whenever and where ever needed, as the DLC depends on corporations for their existence.

[Captain Hilts]

63. That's not up to the attorney general, actually. But a nice rant. nt

[beachmom]

15. It is my understanding that only a small group in the transition

know what decisions are being made or close to being made, and that these "leaks" are from people involved in the transition but way out of the circle.

So, um .... grain of salt with the "chattering".

[Occam Bandage]

16. Hillary Clinton, Senator from New York. I think it points to exactly just how far removed

from the Obama camp the MSM is that all they can do is speculate various Senators and Presidential candidates for each position. Going by media reports, Obama's cabinet is going to be a who's-who of also-rans.

[Captain Hilts]

19. Good observation. The press is totally lazy ass. nt

[karynnj]

52. exactly - and if you look at any previous administration

that is never the case Clinton himself had some strong opponents - yet Tsongus, Kerrey, Brown, Harkin etc were in his cabinet. I suspect that like in all administrations there will be some names that we don't even know.

[nsd]

17. Sounds like BS. The usual Washington gossip. /nt

[Captain Hilts]

21. Slow news day. nt

[Life Long Dem]

18. The media doesn't choose, Obama does.

[karynnj]

22. How exactly would that fit with the new vetting process?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x7862688

Every one on the old list has more real foreign policy experience than she does.

[blm]

23. Some 'Dem officials' sure do a LOT of spinning - I highly doubt they're in Obama's circle

and it's obvious they're spinning like crazy against ANYONE the centrists don't like.

[Ichingcarpenter]

24. By Al Kamen "We all know that Al Gore invented the Internet"

Article where he said that crap
Media Matters: http://mediamatters.org/items/200701160013

WaPo's Al Kamen smears Dems
In his item today:

The intense back-stabbing amongst Democrats for top jobs in the Obama administration assumes there are a fixed number of jobs worth having.

By "intense back-stabbing" does Kamen mean the intense lobbying for jobs that takes place every time a new administration is created? If so than why didn't he just say so. Instead Kamen portrays Dems as greedy juveniles at each others' throats, and Kamen did it without producing a single piece of evidence (i.e. anecdote) to back up his nasty portrayal.
http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200811100012


Nine more articles in media matters about Al Kamen

http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/search_results?qstring=+Al+Kamen

[TheWraith]

25. I think that this is patently absurd. She has no qualifications for SoS.

Not only that, this article is ridiculous as well.

[karynnj]

49. I wouldn't say she has NO credientials

I do think that the fact that she was First Lady and married to the President is a problem in this job - at a point where Obama is still not well known by other leaders. I think some reporters simply got bored waiting for real news.

In addition, I don't know how eye to eye they see things on foreign policy. For HRC the risk is that she would serve at the pleasure of the President. In addition, she could not be involved in any campaigns (Hatch Act). If she wants to run in 2016 or for Governor on NY, it might be easier from a Senate seat.

[4dsc]

27. Supreme Court Justice....nt

[Metric System]

41. Ugh. She has said she is absolutely not interested in being on the SC.

[JoePhilly]

28. Supreme Court Justice Hillary Clinton!!!!

Would drive the far right NUTS!!!!!!

[Metric System]

40. Ugh. She has said she is absolutely not interested in being on the SC.

[Shoelace]

30. she'd be a great pick

and I supported Obama but I do believe she has the necessary international experience to do a very great job.

[blue_onyx]

31. I believe she would do a good job

I would probably go with Kerry though. Hillary will continue to be a influential Senator and do a great job. If Obama is unhappy with the current options and wants Hillary, then he should go with her.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Trajan]

34. I think we need to stop bleeding the congress for administration chairs ...

We NEED to maintain tenured Senators in congress to close the deals on legislation ...

There are plenty of Democratic party apparatchiks available for service in an Obama Administration ...

[LuckyLib]

73. Amen! We need her in Congress to help Obama's administration get things done!

[babylonsister]

35. So who from the Obama camp is chattering to those who want to be

chattered to? No one, more than likely. These journos need to fill a page, so let the speculations continue.

[PresidentObama]

36. Hillary should be Senate Majority Leader, and Kerry should be SOS n/t

[Fabio]

37. agreed!

[nomaco-10]

38. All your posts....

clinton, edwards, clinton, edwards, clinton, edwards...

We're moving on. They may or not be the players YOU want them to be, but we're moving on.

Join us, it's a new day.

[ProSense]

39. Another guess, and one that doesn't make sense.

"There's a lot of disinformation out there."

[Name removed]

42. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[onenote]

43. I want Hillary to let it be known that she wants to be Homeland Security Committee Chair

make JoeL's head spin like a top...

[karynnj]

51. Hillary is not even on the committee

Here are the Democrats on the committee - Obviously Obama will be replaced and I think they get one more Democrat because of the current split. Levin heads Armed Services (he has more service than Lieberman), and Akaka heads the veterans committee. If Lieberman has to give upo the chair, Akaka can trade veterans for this. If not, it goes to Carper, who I think has no chair. (It is true they can get people to waive, the idea that they would move someone new in and give the chair is unlikely.

Joseph I. Lieberman Chairman (ID) (CT)
Carl Levin (MI)

Daniel K. Akaka (HI)

Thomas R. Carper (DE)

Mark L. Pryor (AR)

Mary L. Landrieu (LA)

Barack Obama (IL)

Claire McCaskill (MO)

Jon Tester (MT)

[Phx_Dem]

45. NO.

[Phx_Dem]

60. I changed my mind. I thought she should stay in the Senate, but

now I think SS would be a really good post for her. Honestly, I had never given any thought to Hillary as SS, but I think it might be good.

[LostinVA]

46. USSC

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

50. I'd Rather See Kerry Get It, But Hillary Would Be An Awesome Pick!

If not Kerry, then absolutely Hillary!

Glad to hear it!

[KathieG]

53. Keith just mentioned it.

[ecstatic]

54. It puts her third in line to the presidency...

Interesting...

[nsd]

56. Fourth.

Line of succession: (1) Vice President, (2) Speaker of the House, (3) Senate President Pro Tempore, (4) Secretary of State.

[sohndrsmith]

55. I tend to think she's a little to adversarial for the position...

Just my first gut response. I don't think it's a good fit, personally.

[Kitsune]

57. I really hope this is one of those fake-leak rumors like we've been having... *nt*

[Blackhatjack]

58. Just look at the wealth of qualified candidates on the Democratic Side...

This is one of the reasons our country is in the shape it is in today. All these qualified people were underutilized and we have suffered not only in competent but ignorant Republicans holding these offices.

Take Clinton, Kerry, Richardson or Clark and compare them to Condi 'the shoe shopper' Rice, and the level of talent just overwhelms Rice.

From those mentioned so far, Obama cannot make a bad choice.

[ErinBerin84]

59. I'd be fine with that, but I kind of like her in the Senate.

I wonder why they are leaking this? I mean, the leaks for VP seemed pretty intentional (Bayh, Kaine, and Biden)...interesting. One thing though, this would be hilarious if it happened right after Palin supposedly "called Hillary", per Greta. I hope that this isn't just a rumor that gets people whipped up and disappointed, but I tend to think that a lot of the leaks from this campaign are intentional.

[HeraldSquare212]

61. I'm against it, there's no compelling reason for it.

Her major foreign policy decision was wrong, and the experience with health care reform suggests she can't or doesn't want to negotiate with others.

[quaker bill]

62. Would not be my first choice

but it is understandable. The Clintons have always been well received diplomatically. Hillary in such a position would further cement the unity of the party and signal a party-wide unity of purpose. Hillary already knows many of the folks she would be dealing with. She is certainly at least the equal of the others on the list.

The only drawback I see is that she might be tempted to go beyond the bounds of a team player.

[AtomicKitten]

64. No thanks. There are plenty more qualified and more deserving.

[AJH032]

65. Clinton is very well respected internationally

If you all put aside your anti-Hillary bias for a second, you'd see it would actually be a very wise choice.

[wisteria]

66. Ugh, all these leaks and BS. The list before Clinton had truly experienced people.

As a woman and a Democrat, I do not want to see Clinton in this post. I want to move beyond the Clinton's. At this dangerous time in our history she is not qualified enough to fill this spot. She would be nothing more than an appointment based on cronyism. Remember "Brownie"?

[Raiden]

67. You're really comparing Hillary Clinton to "Brownie"

That's really unfair--Hillary is extremely popular abroad and is a very capable politician. Brownie was just an old friend of Bush. The comparison just isn't apt.

[wisteria]

69. Well, maybe I am being harsh. But, she is not qualified for this position at this time in our

nation's history. Frankly, I don't see her as a negotiator.

[Eryemil]

68. You go girl

[Skwmom]

70. Put her on speed dial? This reminds me of Bill Clinton saying Obama called him and Hillary during

the financial crisis and said tell me what to do.

[Beacool]

72. I don't know that she would even want the job if offered,

but both Clintons are quite popular overseas. This person said it better:

YES! YES! YES! EXCELLENT CHOICE! On the NY Times website, pick your Cabinet, HRC is who I chose for State. And it's funny, today, talking to my Jordanian born and raised hairdresser he and all his cronies really love Hillary-I've said it many many times on this site, I have traveled all over the world, and when I go to Chiang Mai Thailand, I see HRC's pictures on the wall of a restaurant, in a jewelry shop in India, in Morrocco when she was there, in Nepal when she was on an elephant with Chelsea in the incomparable Chitwan National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, EVERYWHERE I GO, THEY TELL ME, WE LOVE HILLARY-THERE IS NO BETTER CANDIDATE FOR SEC. OF STATE THAN HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON-SHE KNOWS THE WORLD, AND THE WORLD LOVES HER!


I would add that I have seen her picture in homes and store windows in several African nations (same for Bill's).

[davidpdx]

75. I'll say the same thing I said about Kerry

We need to leave the Senators we have in the Senate. The experience is going to be needed to pass laws. There has already been quite a bit of turnover in terms of Senate Seats. Obama shouldn't pull either of them out of the Senate.